Uber launches UberEATS, on-demand food delivery app in India

(L-R) Bhavik Rathod, Head UberEATS India, fourth & Kartik Murthy, Product Manager, UberEATS Internationationalization & Growth extreme right at UberEATS India launch

• Mumbai is the first city in India to experience the UberEATS app
• UberEATS allows consumers to schedule orders, smartly curate restaurants, personalize taste preferences and dietary restrictions; and track the delivery on the app
• Empowers restaurant partners with actionable data insights and advanced analytics
• Offers delivery partners ‘guided pick-ups’ to enable a seamless delivery experience
• Bhavik Rathod (formerly GM, South & West, Uber rides) steps in as the Head of UberEATS, India

Mumbai, May 2, 2017: Connecting people to the food they love, Uber, the technology company that is transforming mobility across the world, today launched UberEATS in India, with Mumbai the first city to go live with the service. An on-demand food delivery app, UberEATS helps bring food to consumers in a convenient and reliable manner. From specialty local favorites to everyday national brand names, UberEATS will make it possible for Mumbaikars to enjoy their favourite food everytime, everywhere. To make all this possible, Bhavik Rathod has been appointed to lead UberEATS in India and spearhead UberEATS expansion across the country.

Commenting on the launch, Bhavik Rathod, Head of UberEATS India, said, “Mumbai is home to a booming food industry with a vibrant food culture offering both global and local cuisines. The introduction of UberEATS in India, with Mumbai as the first city, is a major step in our global expansion and showcases our commitment to the region. The app brings the perfect pairing of amazing restaurant partners, innovative technology, and the efficient Uber delivery network at a tap of a button to people in India. The wide selection of meal choices delivered at Uber speed will open new economic opportunities for delivery partners, enable restaurants to connect with more consumers and make eating effortless, everywhere and for everyone.”

UberEATS was started in 2014 as a small delivery pilot in Los Angeles and launched as a separate application in Toronto in December 2015. In the past 18 months, it has grown incredibly fast, and is now a stand-alone app available in 26 countries and in 78 cities around the globe, including India.

“A little over a year ago, we set out to make food delivery–from pizza to smoothies– through the UberEATS app as convenient and reliable as getting an Uber ride. As we have expanded UberEATS, we have been building the technology to make food delivery at the push of a button easy wherever you are–whether it is at home or the park, in Mumbai or San Francisco. That is why we are working specifically to make the challenges in India opportunities for developing a better product for consumers, restaurants, and delivery partners. For example, for consumers, we are using machine learning to surface restaurant recommendations, as well as integrating popular payment options to make transactions easy; for restaurants, we developed a tool– Restaurant Manager– to share actionable data and analytics to help grow their businesses; and for delivery partners, we have built the ability for them to complete trips even when offline in low connectivity areas. We look forward to continuing to learn from our experience in India and build the technology that makes food delivery effortless for everyone,” said, Kartik Murthy, Product Manager, UberEATS Internationationalization & Growth.

“We launched Chaayos in November 2012 with a vision to redefine the way chai is consumed in India. Chaayos is today present in 6 cities with 36 cafes and looking to scale pan India. Partnering with UberEATS will give us an opportunity to reach a broader customer base across multiple cities and ensure their favorite chai and snacks are delivered at their doorstep. We look forward to partnering with UberEATS to achieve highest standards of quality and customer experience,” said, Raghav Verma, Co-founder, Chaayos

Here are the unique technology features built in UberEATS app to deliver on the promises of selection, speed, and convenience.

For Consumers (Users) – UberEATS helps users discover new foods and enjoy more of what their cities have to offer.

• Smart Curation & Specialization – This feature allows users to view food photos and allows broad cuisine search for a mouth-watering experience, while the suggestion carousels bubble up restaurants which users will love. The application of machine learning enables creation of individualized taste preferences, and customised restaurants and dishes for each user based on their past orders and current contextual information. Now consumers can easily find and order the right food for the moment at the push of a button.
• Scheduled Orders – For those in a rush, UberEATS brings the intersection of convenience and reliability, UberEATs offers consumers the capability to schedule an order ahead of time. Consumers can order anytime up to an hour before the desired delivery window, and as far as a week in advance. The app lets the users track their order through every step of the process, so that consumers can monitor their order and be assured of their order being reliably delivered to their location.
• Customize drop-off – Expanding delivery to more places in India, customize drop-off feature gives more choice and convenience to consumers. Now consumers can get food delivered with ease and convenience no matter where they are by choosing specific information about delivery location. Some of the places getting added to UberEATS delivery are hospitals, parks and office buildings.

For Restaurant Partners – UberEATS will help local restaurants reach new consumers and deliver their food fast, efficiently and reliably. Offering a reliable turnkey delivery option, UberEATS effectively expands restaurant capacity and reach to be able to service a whole new network of potential consumers and significant additional revenue stream.

• Restaurant Manager – The app makes it simpler for restaurant partners to control order flow, manage menus, and improve exposure. Restaurant Manager, a new analytics tool has been rolled out to empower restaurant partners to make data-driven decisions. The tool offers restaurants access to actionable data and insights about their service quality, consumer satisfaction, and sales to help make specific adjustments to improve their business.

For Delivery Partners – UberEATS offers delivery partners a flexible and reliable way to make money on a schedule that works for them. Delivery partners work when they want, and deliver food on a bike

• Guided Pick-ups – For delivery partners, parking and picking up from restaurants is a highly variable experience based on the location and configuration of the restaurant. UberEATS has built in step-by-step pick-up instruction functionality, wherein Uber delivery-partner app gathers granular pick-up information for even the most difficult-to-navigate restaurants, share that with delivery partners so they can quickly and easily locate the order as well as deliver it on time.

UberEATS has been launched in Mumbai in partnership with more than 200 restaurant partners, including local players like The Bohri Kitchen, Nom Nom, The Bombay Canteen, The Good Wife, Fresh Menu, Le 15, Coffee By Di Bella and global names like Krispy Kreme, Chillies, etc. consumers will be able to order 7 days a week, round the clock, as long as the restaurants are operational, through the app. The UberEATS app is separate to the Uber app people use to request a ride and has been built specifically to make food delivery as seamless as possible. Starting today, consumers can download the new app for iOS and Android from the iTunes/Google play store or go online at ubereats.com

Food prices are set by restaurant partners according to their own menu and there’s a delivery fee of INR 15, inclusive of taxes. There is no minimum order size.

Getting started with UberEATS is easy.

1. Download the app
2. Pick delivery location – Input your address where you’d like your meal delivered
3. Find the perfect meal – Browse local restaurants or search by cuisine type, and sort according to price, dietary needs, and speed to find exactly what your taste buds are asking for
4. Place your order – Pick the items you want right now or schedule your order to the arrive whenever is most convenient for you
5. Pay through PayTM – Our launch partners, PayTM will make it easy for you to pay for your meals
6. Track the progress of the delivery – Get updates as your order is prepared and watch in realtime as the meals is delivered to your destination